Innovative growers, Dennis and Sue Rak, of Double A Vineyards, Inc. in Fredonia, N.Y., are early participants in the emerging energy agriculture industry in the Northeast. In cooperation with SUNY-ESF, they are developing a commercial nursery (www.doubleawillow.com) to supply shrub willow cuttings for biomass crops. Using genetically enhanced willow stock, the amount of plant material grown from cuttings expands exponentially each growing season.  

“Last year we established 10 acres of nursery with 50,000 plants,” Dennis explains. This year the family-owned operation is planting another 10 acres, doubling their shrub willow nursery stock to 100,000 plants, and expanding their capacity to produce 4- to 5-million cuttings. 

 “The first year doesn’t make much growth, but we still cut them back and harvested up to five cuttings per plant,” Dennis says. “The second year we get several whips 6 to 8 feet long. By the fourth year we should get up to 40 to 50 cuttings per plant.”  

Initial sales of shrub willow plant material have been to Lyonsdale Biomass LLC, a wood-fueled energy producer in Lyonsdale, N.Y. The 19-MW facility, located in a heavily wooded area of the state, consumes 700 tons of wood chips daily. The electricity producer is investing in locally produced renewable energy with plans to establish a 2,000-acre willow plantation to fuel the plant.  

Expanding outside of traditional ag markets  

Dennis and Sue started their business in 1990 when they bought a vineyard. “The vineyard was in bad shape so we needed a different type of enterprise to cash flow the business. With my prior experience in the nursery industry, a nursery operation made sense,” Dennis says. Beginning with a small number of cuttings, Double A Vineyards has grown to planting three-million cuttings of over 100 grape varieties in 50 acres of variety blocks. By now they are likely the largest rootstock supplier in the eastern United States.

“We sell a couple million grape vines annually to people all over the country establishing new vineyards,” Dennis says. They also sell to homeowners over their web site (www.doubleavineyards.com) and raise 250 acres of vineyard grapes for Welch’s, Cliffstar and Constellation Wines, the wine division of Constellation Brands.  

“The Raks are great entrepreneurs — always looking for different products to expand their business, and expand outside of their traditional agricultural buyer,” says Jim Warner, Farm Credit of Western New York branch manager, Mayville office.  

In 2003, the Raks put up a 2,300-square-foot state-ofthe- art greenhouse for producing new varieties using softwood propagation. Next, they built an 11,000-squarefoot steel root storage building with special rootstock temperature controls. The building also contains a separate sorting and shipping room and three offices. This year, with the help of a NYSERDA grant, they will add another 3,000-square-foot freezer space for willow storage.  

“It has been my pleasure working with Dennis and Sue,” Jim says. “As an agricultural loan officer for 24 years, this has been my first opportunity to work with a rootstock/ grapevine business.”

“Farm Credit has really helped facilitate our growth over the years,” Dennis counters. “This is the fourth bank we’ve worked with since we started business and it is by far the best working relationship we’ve had.”  

As the Rak’s willow nursery expands, their region could reap some economic and environmental benefits, Jim predicts. “The willow project could turn into a nice addition to their existing business, but also could grow into an opportunity for many in the local area, as they will eventually be looking for more land to plant willows. And, we can’t forget the significance to us all of burning a cleaner fuel like the willow to help clean up emissions and to transition from fossil fuels.”

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